Jealousy over affair isn’t sex discrimination

Romantic relationships at work can spark all sorts of problems, from sexual harassment claims to discrimination. But not every negative consequence of a workplace romance is grounds for litigation, even if one or both paramours ends up being fired.

That’s true even if the reason for termination is because someone was jealous of the relationship.

Recent case: Andrea was a rising star at Emmis Communications, a radio and magazine media company. She got decent reviews and regular promotions until she became director of sales. She was also personal friends with Alexandra, a senior vice president who had briefly been married to one of Andrea’s subordinates, Gordon.

The trouble began shortly after Alexandra learned that Andrea had begun dating Gordon. Soon, Andrea faced criticism of her work, was accused of missing meetings and generally being unresponsive to company needs. Somewhere along the line, Alexandra loudly berated Andrea about her relationship with Gordon.

Then, while Andrea was on vacation, she received a string of emails and calls from Alexandra about her alleged performance problems. Alexandra ended with an email telling Andrea she had been terminated for poor performance.

Andrea sued, alleging sex discrimination.

But the court dismissed her case. It reasoned that Alexandra may have acted out of jealousy based on Andrea’s testimony that Alexandra screamed at her about the relationship, but jealousy, the court reasoned, is not sex discrimination. While perhaps unfair, it is not illegal to terminate a subordinate because a supervisor is jealous of a workplace affair. (Barone v. Emmis Communications, No. 155032, Supreme Court New York County, 2016)

Final note: If you don’t already have rules against such relationships, consider banning romantic relationships between supervisors and subordinates. Otherwise, sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuits can result.